Recently Po was admitted to hospital for kidney stone pain. As there was no special room available and admission was required he was given a sharing room with one more patient. This was an old lady suffering from cancer. Around 3 am. She started talking loudly mostly questions like “when will she go home”? “ why is she made a prisoner here”? “ who is behind all this happening in her life”? “why is she suffering, if she has been good person throughout&rdq... read full story

On a rainy Sunday evening, several of us came together at The Urban Ashram, Pune, for a heart-lifting conversation with Nisha. Presented below is a transcript of her candid sharing followed by Q&A. The Journey from Circumstances to Aspirations I feel that all of us have a set of aspirations and also have a set of circumstances – sometimes these circumstances are empowering and sometimes limiting. If our aspirations are deep enough, we can flip the circumstances around so that we se... read full story

When collective punya becomes stronger a doorway to deepen practices open. This is what Rajkot retreat was- a doorway-Kalyan mitra Milan. This was what we wished to dive deeper into at Rajkot retreat. Knowing, understanding and internalizing the bhaav of who truly is Kalyan mitra or noble friend. This retreat was truly co-created by all participants. Starting with space being gifted by Vasantbhai known as “Ashram”, located outskirts of Rajkot with mudhouses built by Sheetalbha... read full story

Next few days flew at Kolkatta and Ranjana my next co-traveler joined me. With the Kabir bliss flowing within, the wheels turned towards Jharkhand known also as Singhbhum- meaning land of lions. Hari uncle was our angel once again. When he heard that we were driving in Jharkhand unaware of anything he put on his army hat one more time and within a day we became the guests of Jharkhand state police. The drive from Kolkatta was via Chaukulia and Ghatsila forest area. The moment we left outski... read full story

I took a sabbatical since my last update about Bhubaneshwar, seemed like yatra halted at kolkatta. Well, it did in some sense and yet life flows. Inner journey took a year to sink in and understand deeper stuff... work in progress forever. But the compelling break seems to be coming to an end and yatra stories are once again alive. Kolkatta is known for its rich history, it is a place that is close to my heart for various reasons one of them is, it was my maternal grandparents home. The long ... read full story

A year ago on 2nd of March I started my Bhaav yatra. The day is significant as it is my grandmother’s death anniversary. In a year’s time so much has undergone transformation, each experience brought understanding and the path to awaken. I had carried the ashes of John’s son (JT) and was offering it in all holy rivers and oceans I visited on my way. Every time I did that I connected with the ultimate truth of death, at the same time deep down felt blessed by JT who traveled ... read full story

The bhaav yatra continues. After last years 7 month yatra so many friends were asking about “next bhaav yatra”. The villagers from Somaj-Delwada were repeatedly calling and they wanted to host more friends. I had to give in to their bhaav and decided to take a few friends by the banks of Narmada from 24th to 28th Jan, it being a long weekend. The idea remained the same, going to the village and immersing with the eco-system with emerging bhaav, learning, sharing and of course having ... read full story

Before I begin sharing about Bhubaneshwar, I wish to mention a special person – Hariji, who has been an integral part of the yatra and helped arrange for our visits to Vizag, Bhubaneshwar and Jharkhand. Hariji was concerned about us being on the highway in unknown spaces with no reference so he arranged for our meeting and stays at schools in Vijaynagaram. At Bhubaneshwar, he had arranged for our stay at the Jindal steel guest house and we were to visit their steel plants at Jajpur, Kaling... read full story

Meera Maran, the Compassionate Entrepreneur By the time the Bhav Yatra reached Chennai, the mind had stopped interfering or planning about the coming day. All was in a perfect flow and there was no particular agenda in Chennai. Anant from Coimbatore had referred me to meet Meera who runs Terrra foods [+] at Chennai. She runs an organic food product outlet and I was very impressed with all items as for the first time in 10 years, I could eat sweets without worrying about my sugar levels. So... read full story

We head out to Vijaywada from Chennai covering a distance of almost 400 odd kms. in a day which is roughly an eight hour drive. At Vijaywada, we were hosted by Dineshbhai and family. Dineshbhai is a businessman who owns 8 multi-brand clothing stores across 4 cities but a person whose heart is in service. His business expertise is all about his people. His success mantra is “This too shall pass”. Vijayawada is a small city with different communities - Sindhi, Gujarati, Punjabi... read full story

Traude aka Shanti at Aum pranav Ashram had a dream to serve the society. She was in university in Austria when her dream would give her sleepless nights and a deep calling of visiting India became stronger. She bought a ticket to India and the moment she stepped out of the flight she decided she will serve here and not go back. This decision further guided her to meet Vishwanath who had a similar thought and both got married with blessings of his guru who blessed them with a life of service. ... read full story

Somehow while writing about all the amazing places that I was visiting a thought came as to what makes this places so special and the obvious answer was people. People who stay there and hold the space make it special. So I thought of sharing some individuals with all of you. Story-1 Thirupal Gorige I wish to share a story about this incredible being Thirupal Gorige. He hails from a small village of Andhra Pradesh. His parents were cobblers. His childhood was filled with friends but void o... read full story

Starting with Karma kitchen Bangalore trip was much promising and offered us bag full of surprises. We had a beautiful Awakin at Anupreet’s and Taranath’s home. A Kabir satsang hosted by Shabnam and deep conversations that we had with Susheel, Amma and Kapila at their homes. My best friend Shagun got a chance to connect with MBL group and she and her family attended Awakin. This was very moving for me. A sense of completion was felt on witnessing two worlds coming together in the spa... read full story

Some touching songs from Vipul Rikhi ...  From mid-July to beginning of August I was on a yatra with Sheetal Vaidya, who is doing a 6-7 month 'bhaav yatra' in her small Santro Xing car, and I was lucky enough to be part of this journey for 3 weeks. We drove together from Chennai to Kolkata, with further stops at Shanti Niketan and Belur Math. We stopped often at educational institutions, orphanages or homes for specially abled children. It was an overwhelming experience. Inter... read full story

From Chaka Manga Katiel, we headed off for Bangalore. We passed another forest area, the Nagarhole sanctuary for elephants and other wild life. We spotted many elephants and had to take breaks to allow them to cross the road first! We reached Bangalore by evening, the city that holds lot of nostalgic moments of my past life when I was a resident for a couple of years. The first couple of days were spent going down the memory lane. I experienced the passing of time like sand from our hands and... read full story

On our way to Anandashram we are hosted by Konark Rai’s parents in their farm. As we enter the farm we read the words “Fatherland” that caught attention. Upon asking Rai uncle shared that this word is given by Adolph hitler, it means a land with created with vigour and hard work. Rai uncle’s father was a well-known freedom fighter of south. And hence he is named his farm fatherland. He shared some stories about their life and Konark’s mom fed us the most delicious c... read full story

A school without walls Have you heard of a school without walls? A school where kids decide what they want to study and create their own learning projects? We reach such a school amidst hills and natural beauty of sindhudurg area. We are given a tour of the school by a 10 year old and she surprises us by her explanations on farming, engineering, cooking, construction and many more experiential labs that they have. Upon inquiring what inspired the couple to take this leap of faith? The answer ... read full story

What would you call peels of vegetables, leftover rotten food, used tea bags? If you say its waste, she retorts by saying “don’t call it waste, it is a natural resource”, she is Jyoti shah. Who has truly converted fruit and vegetable peels to fruit trees and vegetable garden. If the thought is she is a farmer who has a big farm, she again proves us wrong as all this is done on the terrace of her flat. She calls herself urban farmer. We met her at her terrace garden in Pune. She... read full story

Upon reaching Maharashtra I am hosted at a place that resembles Safai vidyalaya. Here’s a family who has dedicated their lives in area of environment and sanitation. Shri Shrikant Naverkar runs a place by the name of Nirmal gram. They organize sanitation training programs and also engaged in organic farming. Following their father’s footsteps they live Gandhian values of simplicity, discipline and service to others. Before evening meal the entire family gathers for an all religion... read full story

Early in the month of April, Sheetal Vaidya decided to set off on a journey of love across India - or what she called the Bhaav Jatra. We're blessed to be sharing updates from her journey across communities! Ashrams near Narmada and co-traveler finding purpose in life at the border of Gujarat We go to an Ashram at Garudeshwar and meet an old dada who manages the whole place for past 40 years. As he’s sharing his journey he says all of us have one of the three paths in our life &... read full story